Montana politics: Green Party in, Senate candidate out, GOP files ethics complaint – The Missoulian

All of this comes in advance of Monday’s 5 p.m. filing deadline for candidates in a year that will see nearly every major statewide office on the ballot.

Green Party

The Montana Secretary of State’s Office announced mid-afternoon Friday that more than 11,000 signatures in Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, Missoula, Silver Bow and Yellowstone counties were submitted to qualify the Green Party for the 2020 ballot, with more than 5,000 accepted — a number that exceeds the required minimum number of 5% of voters in at least 34 legislative districts.

A day earlier, Eric Fulton of Whitefish filed to run in the U.S. Senate race and is the only Libertarian to file as of Friday, according to data from the Montana Secretary of State website. Fulton’s LinkedIn profile lists him as board chairman of Treasure State Internet and Telegraph. In 2014, Fulton was chair of the Gallatin County Young Republicans; the Bozeman Daily Chronicle noted he ran for a state House seat the same year as a Republican. State records note a Democrat represented the district in 2015.

Third-party candidates can draw votes from the major parties, with the Green Party seen as siphoning votes from Democrats while Libertarians, who are qualified to appear on the ballot already, taking votes that might otherwise go to Republicans.

It was unclear who submitted petitions to qualify the Green Party for the ballot in Montana this year. A Tuesday Facebook post by the Montana Green Party said that “As of now the Montana Green Party is running no candidates for US House and Senate. Republican and conservative efforts to qualify the Green Party in the state for the 2020 may very well lead to a number of ‘FALSE’ candidates running as Green for US House and Senate races.” The post went on to say the Green Party would “disavow” any candidates running under its name.

“It is a shame that the GOP and DNC must lower themselves to such a level as to use 3rd Party platforms to further their agendas,” it said.

Club for Growth Action, a national political action committee that backs conservative candidates, was the only organization that has registered to raise and spend money to qualify the Green Party for the ballot here. But it told the Commissioner of Political Practices office that effort ended in early February, well before many of the signatures were gathered or dropped off.

If another group besides Club for Growth has paid to operate a signature-gathering effort to qualify the Green Party in Montana, it risks breaking a state law that requires a group to register as a minor party qualification committee within five days of raising or spending more than $500 on the effort.

Club for Growth is not required to report any spending or fundraising it’s done on the effort until April 15.

U.S. Senate Race

Josh Seckinger announced Friday he was exiting the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate race in Montana in order to endorse Bullock.

Seckinger, a fly fishing guide who lives in Bozeman, threw his support behind Bullock as he stepped aside on Friday.

“I entered this race because I felt working-class Montanans needed someone to represent them,” Seckinger said. “With a strong history as attorney general and governor, Steve Bullock is the best person in the state to do that. He has my full support to be the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate.

“I will do whatever I can to ensure he defeats Steve Daines in November.”

In his announcement about giving up his quest for the Senate, Seckinger noted he was only in the race for 16 days.

The other Democratic candidates are Bozeman resident Cora Neumann, who has worked in the public lands and public health fields; Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins; John Mues, a Navy veteran and engineer who works in the energy field and lives in Loma; and scientist Mike Knoles, of Bozeman.

As of Friday morning, Bullock, termed out as governor this year, had not filed as a Senate candidate. The filing deadline is Monday.

As recently as last month, Bullock insisted after his failed bid to be the Democratic nominee for president that he would not run against U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, the incumbent Republican. However, this week, a source with knowledge of Bullock’s thinking said he was considering a Senate race. The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin, who first reported the possible reversal this week, wrote that Bullock in an email “declined to say whether he would run.”

Political analyst and University of Montana journalism professor Lee Banville earlier predicted the other Democratic contenders would rally around a veteran candidate.

Daniel Larson of Stevensville already filed as a Republican to take on Daines.

Ethics Complaint

The Montana GOP filed an ethics complaint against Bullock Friday that alleges he illegally used his state government resources during his presidential campaign, echoing complaints last year by several Montana Republicans. Eventually, an agreement was reached in which Bullock’s presidential campaign reimbursed the Montana Highway Patrol for at least $2,500 in expenses related to accompanying the governor on campaign trips as he makes a bid for the Democratic nomination for president.

The complaint filed Friday singles out Bullock’s use of social media accounts, including the Facebook and Twitter accounts for “Governor Bullock.”

“Because these two accounts have — for years — been used by Bullock in his official capacity as Governor of Montana for state business, they should not have been used, and should not be used in the future for campaign purposes,” it said. “… The accounts were used thousands of times to solicit support for Bullock’s failed bid to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.”

Bullock’s spokeswoman responded that “Republicans in Montana have repeatedly filed frivolous complaints against Governor Bullock. This complaint is no different. Long before this complaint was filed, the Governor’s representatives worked closely with the Commissioner of Political Practices to ensure that his policies for the use of social media are in strict compliance with Montana law.”

Until the end of 2017, all ethics complaints filed with the commissioner were private until they were accepted, if they were accepted. But following a ruling by a U.S. District Court judge, any ethics complaint against an elected official or state employee in Montana is public once it’s lodged with the commissioner.

Earlier this year, another ethics complaint against Republican Secretary of State candidate Christi Jacobsen, who is now deputy Secretary of State, concerning a claimed use of state resources while campaigning was lodged but dismissed as frivolous.